Spooked
by Yondaime Namikaze
Summary: Hanson Harrison Haddock III "Hiccup" makes an interesting discovery regarding his girlfriend, Astrid Hofferson, during an amusement park date. *One-shot series about Hiccup's and Astrid's day at the amusement park; told out of order-a chronology for this series is now posted on my profile page*
1. Spooked

**A couple weeks ago, I spent an afternoon at an amusement park and while I was there, inspiration struck. That is how "Spooked" came to be. I actually have a few other one-shots that this day inspired. Let me know if you want to read them. I can promise that you wouldn't regret asking for them!**

**Ah, that reminds me. In this story, Hanson Harrison Haddock III "Hiccup" and Astrid Hofferson are both twenty—so appearance-wise, they look like their counterparts from the second movie…just with more modern-day clothing (which I might describe in this one-shot—depends how the flow of the story goes).**

* * *

Spooked

Hiccup's planned amusement park date with his girlfriend Astrid Hofferson had gone perfectly so far. They were having a wonderful time and it had been well worth the two-hour drive from Berk to Raven Pointe. Though there was rain in the forecast, the sky had yet to unleash its wet torrent upon the park.

It was approaching dinnertime, but neither Hiccup nor Astrid thought about their hunger; they were having too much fun to stop just yet. Already in just the span of one day, they had the opportunity for a free ride (which was rare in a pay-as-you-ride amusement park) on one of the wooden roller coasters, been scared shitless on a plunge-like ride, and even gotten mildly wet on the park's "log jam" flume ride (much to Astrid's dismay—which had caused Hiccup some pain…and the formation of a nasty bruise on his right arm).

In the back of the amusement park, almost hidden by the nearby vendors and flashy rides, stood an attraction that was designed to look like a house. Painted yellow in color with a ticket booth gazebo out front, the park's infamous "Haunted House" stood waiting…and Hiccup was ready. Gripping Astrid's hand, Hiccup raced toward the almost-empty line. "Come on, Astrid. I want to ride this one now!"

"Are you sure, Hiccup? We could always stop for dinner and ride this later."

Hiccup smiled as they approached the end of the waiting line. "You're not scared, are you, Astrid?" he teased his girlfriend.

"No, of course not!" Astrid scoffed. "I'm just trying to see some reason here. It's getting late and we do need to eat dinner."

"Well, dinner can wait. Besides, we're almost there!"

The ride featured a continuous flow of cars so there was little wait time, much to Hiccup's satisfaction. Not that there had been much wait time for any of the rides today, though; most guests had probably stayed away because of the weather forecast.

When it was their turn to board, Hiccup and Astrid handed the ride attendant their tickets and climbed into their car. Looking over, Hiccup thought he saw Astrid shaking slightly, but he figured it was just from cold. The temperature had cooled off a little as night approached. Besides, Astrid Hofferson was fearless. Hiccup knew that she would love this ride. "Just remember, if you get scared, I'm right here, Astrid. I'll protect you," he teased again with a laugh. In reply, Astrid simply punched his arm. "Hey!" he told her. "You already punched that arm. I think you hurt the bruise that's there from earlier!"

"Oh, there'll be a lot worse than a bruise there if you tease me one more time about being scared, Hanson!" she told him, drawing out his real first name to its full syllable length.

There was no more time to talk as the slow-moving ride began. The car followed along its track, bumping open the doors to the house and plunging Hiccup and Astrid into total darkness. Before the attraction began, the car passed through another set of doors, bumping them open again and Hiccup felt Astrid jump at the sound. He dismissed the thought though. _**Maybe the car is off-balance?**_

The car passed through room after room, showing the attraction's wide array of spooks and terrors to Hiccup and Astrid. Hiccup smiled at the sights and memories. This attraction hadn't scared him since he was ten and it had become one of his most favorite rides at the park. He loved the musty smell combined with the scent of the oil of the tracks. Throughout the ride though, he kept feeling the shifting. _**There's no way that Astrid is scared of this. She's Astrid Hofferson, Fearless Astrid Hofferson. A little old spookhouse wouldn't scare her!**_

Toward the end of the ride, around a bend, was the truck. The truck had one light and a loud blaring horn sounded as the car approached, the light startling riders out of darkness. Hiccup was ready for it. He knew it was always placed at the end. It used to be at the very end, mounted onto the last set of doors and that would scare the living daylights out of young Hanson Haddock. Sometime over the years, the ride operators had moved it. Now it was less scary, but he'd have a hard time telling that to Astrid. As the car approached and the horn sounded and the light shone down on them, Hiccup's laughter could not drown out a very un-Astrid-like scream.

What was even more startling was her muttering afterwards. "I'm done. I'm so done. Just get me off of this thing!"

Hiccup did not know whether to comfort Astrid or not. Would she get defensive? Surely he was not meant to have heard the muttering. Still, he decided he would rather be in pain than be branded as a bad boyfriend for not attempting to calm his girlfriend. Gripping her hand lightly (which was a little hard in the darkness), he whispered, "It's okay, Milady. The ride's almost over."

Sure enough, one bend in the track later and the car bumped open the final set of doors, releasing the light of day upon Hiccup and Astrid. When the car stopped, Hiccup stepped out first, carefully placing his right foot and left prosthetic foot on the ground to steady his balance. Though he had walked with the prosthetic for five years now, he still found that he had to be careful lest he wanted to take a tumble in public…which was very embarrassing, even for him. Once he was safely out of the car, Hiccup offered a hand to Astrid to help her out.

Another ride attendant sat nearby, making sure all riders exited safely. As he passed the attendant, Hiccup told the older man, "Great ride. She loved it," as he gestured to Astrid next to him. His girlfriend said nothing, but did make sure to deliver yet another punch to his already-abused arm. "Why is it always violence with you?" he asked as they walked away from the Haunted House. Hiccup knew already that he was going to have to figure out an explanation for the nasty bruise that had surely formed…and was probably still continuing to form on his arm.

Once they had walked a short distance away from the Haunted House, Hiccup turned to Astrid. "Huh…who would've thought that 'Fearless Astrid Hofferson' is scared of haunted houses?" he joked.

"I…I just don't like things crawling on me…in the dark," Astrid tried to justify, but Hiccup wasn't buying it and he knew that she knew. "Okay, so I'm scared…a little, but this secret dies with us, Hanson Harrison Haddock III!" she warned, poking his chest sharply for emphasis.

Hiccup knew better to argue…especially since Astrid had used his full name. She only used it when she was upset with him and he knew it. Usually, she just called him by his nickname "Hiccup". Yes, Astrid was very serious about this, so Hiccup already knew the reply he needed to say. "Secret's safe with me, Astrid."

* * *

**Probably should've mentioned this before, but "Spooked" actually takes place in the middle of the other one-shots that I mentioned in the opening AN. That's why there's little backstory and such. **

**Want to read the other one-shots? Let me know! I'll gladly write them up for you!**

**Posted: August 3, 2014**


	2. Wooden Coaster

**I'm back with another one-shot…so you can guess that I decided to post up the others that I'd come up with about Hiccup's and Astrid's day at the amusement park. Thanks for all the positive feedback about Spooked! Although, I probably would've posted the other one-shots even if you all said not to because I'm a rebel like that. Haha! **

**As for Hiccup's prosthetic, since it comes up a bit more in this one-shot, I envision it as very similar to the one in the moves/TV series but more modern-day (obviously). It starts at about his mid-calf (even though it is referenced here as a "prosthetic foot". There is a backstory to it, but that is actually revealed in the prologue which has not yet been written/posted.**

**One last thing before the one-shot begins. Since I've kinda started posting these out of order, I will be posting up the chronology (hopefully soon!) on my profile. This one-shot takes us back to the start of Hiccup's and Astrid's day! Hope you all enjoy this one as much as you liked Spooked!**

* * *

Wooden Coaster

With tickets in hand and a full day ahead of them, Hiccup led the way deeper into the amusement park. He knew exactly what ride he wanted to start the day with and he knew that Astrid would approve. Though he was excited, Hiccup had to be careful walking in places where there was gravel as the loose stones would cause his prosthetic foot to slip and that was not how he wanted to start the day.

Up ahead, Hiccup could see his destination, its wooden tracks standing tall. Hiccup loved the wooden roller coaster at this amusement park. The height of the tracks had always made him feel small when he would stare up at them. When he was younger and more visitors frequented the park, little Hanson Haddock would wait in line and watch the coasters fly by. He would smell the oil on the chains pulling each train up the highest incline. Because Hanson had always been small, when he would ride the coaster, his father, Stanton Haddock, would have to hold him down as the lap restraints did little to hold the small boy in his seat as the coaster would fly along its track. Yes, this particular ride held many great memories already and Hiccup was ready to make more along with Astrid beside him.

"Well, Milady, here we are. It's a tradition to begin the day with this particular roller coaster. So…ready to get this 100% stress-free weekday of fun started?!"

Hiccup waited for his girlfriend's reply, but he did not miss the way her eyes drifted down to his prosthetic foot, the metal attached to his lower leg gleaming in the late morning sunlight. "As long as you feel up to it, Hiccup," Astrid replied.

"Of course I'm ready! I already said that I'm not going to let the old metal leg stop me from having a great time with you today! Now, come on, let's go! I want the front seat! That's a tradition too!" Hiccup raced toward the line for the coaster, but he thought about the sadness he had just heard in Astrid's voice. He did not understand why she was sad about his prosthetic. It hadn't been her fault that he had lost his left foot and lower leg. Well, he wasn't going to worry about that right now. Today was about stress-free fun.

Counting out the required number of tickets, Hiccup slid them to the ride attendant who promptly slid them back. Hiccup was confused. Why wasn't the man taking the tickets?

"We're not taking tickets at the moment. Marketing is filming a commercial right now and they want a filled coaster in the background. Until they finish the commercial, rides on this coaster are free."

Hiccup turned back to Astrid. "Hear that? Come on! Let's go!" he told her, as he pocketed his returned tickets. Gripping Astrid's hand, he pulled her up the ramp to the ride platform. Up on the platform, Hiccup led Astrid to the line for the front seat. They were content to wait, but the ride attendants asked them to board immediately in one of the empty sets of seats. The attendants, as they told Hiccup and Astrid, had been instructed to hold the coaster until it was mostly-filled. Shrugging, Hiccup obliged and him and Astrid found an open seat. "If we make it into this commercial, then it's worth breaking tradition…this time," he reasoned.

Entering the seat first, Hiccup sat on the left side of the coaster and Astrid took her seat on the right side. When they were situated, they both pulled down on the lap restraint, locking it into place. As the ride attendants were still waiting for a few more riders, Hiccup and Astrid had some time to talk and reflect on their decision to start with this ride.

"I know how these types of rides go, Hiccup. You'd better be careful or you'll fly right out of it!" Astrid laughed, blatantly mocking Hiccup's lack of weight.

"Come on, Astrid. I'm not that small anymore!" He knew that he would come to regret telling Astrid that story from the days of his boyhood.

"Oh sure…" Astrid replied, still mocking Hiccup. "You still look like a talking fishbone to me," she laughed.

Hiccup huffed, but he knew that Astrid knew that he wasn't really upset. He could never be upset with her. "Thank you…for summing that up."

"But that's one of the reasons why I love you, Babe. You know that, right?" Still she laughed and Hiccup relished in the sound. It used to be so hard to make serious and fierce Astrid Hofferson laugh, but now it came so easily.

"You bet I do," he replied with a smile.

Before Hiccup and Astrid could continue their conversation, the ride attendant's voice played over the station intercom, warning all passengers to secure all loose items and keep hands and feet inside the coaster at all times throughout the ride.

"Is your metal leg secured, Hiccup?" Astrid teased.

"As secured as it's gonna get, Milady."

The final address from the ride attendants to the passengers onboard the coaster was to "look happy, scream, and put your hands in the air".

The coaster lurched forward as the ride began. Hiccup braced his excitement as the coaster ascended the initial incline. It was as the coaster crested at the top of the incline, though, that Hiccup missed sitting in the front seat. Even as a boy, he enjoyed looked down at the descending track and feeling the rush through his hair as the coaster would speed down the tracks.

As the front of the coaster began its descent, picking up speed, Hiccup and Astrid both threw up their hands, screaming in genuine excitement. The coaster flew along the track and as the hills increased toward the end, Hiccup found that he still would fly up out of his seat. _**Guess I'm still too small for these lap restraints.**_ His thoughts were pushed from his mind quickly, though. It mattered not that the ride always brought him to a semi-standing position as long as he remained safely inside the coaster.

All too soon, the ride was ending and the coaster pulled back into the station. Once the lap restraints were released, Hiccup immediately climbed out of the coaster and raced down the exit rap. He could hear Astrid calling after him, but he had one mission. When Astrid finally did catch up to Hiccup, she asked him why he had taken off so suddenly. "I want to see if we can get one more ride on here while it's still free," he told her.

Together, they ran back to the entrance. Unfortunately, they quickly learned that the filming had finished and free rides on the coaster were no longer an option, so Hiccup and Astrid opted instead to go find another ride.

Standing in front of the roller coaster, Hiccup and Astrid looked at the park map to assess their options. While looking at the park map, Astrid laughed slightly and told Hiccup, "I was right. I noticed you flying up out of your seat. Good thing I told you to brace yourself for that," she finished, taking yet another opportunity to tease her boyfriend.

Thinking quickly, Hiccup smirked and replied, "I knew that restraint wasn't going to hold me. It couldn't handle all this…awesomeness," he told Astrid, gesturing to all of him.

Lightly punching Hiccup's shoulder, Astrid smiled slightly, trying her best to hide the expression from her boyfriend. "Oh sure…you keep telling yourself that, Babe. Now, are we just going to stand here all day or we actually going to do something?"

Folding the map up again, Hiccup shoved it back into one of the pockets of his tan-colored cargo shorts. "Excellent question, Milady! Come on, follow me. I just found something great to ride next!"

* * *

**Some exclusive extra notes: This chapter combines experiences from both of the roller coasters I rode at the amusement park. It's my family's tradition to ride the front seat and on the other coaster, we got a free ride because they were filming a commercial for the park. If I make it in the commercial, I'll let you know…and I'll remember you all when I'm famous. Haha. **

**I'm going to leave this story listed as "complete" for now. I know that I will post all the one-shots for you all, but this "story" does not have chapters. Each "chapter" is complete, but they all relate to this single day. You get what I mean? … Me neither. Oh well…I tried. Haha.**

**Thanks for reading and the next one-shot will be posted soon!**

**Posted: August 6, 2014**


	3. The Plunge

**Gods…it's been forever. I'm sorry! I hope this next ride/story makes up for it. This one is going to be fun; I'll tell you all that right now. I'm super excited to write about this one. **

**Oh, yeah…this one-shot series will highlight some of the more interesting rides that I envision occurring during Hiccup's and Astrid's day. It would be pointless and boring to recall all of them, so the ones that make the cut and secure a spot in this story are ones with funny or interesting tales to tell.**

* * *

The Plunge

Hiccup led Astrid to the ride he had found on the map. It was located near the wooden coaster so they did not have to walk far to find it. This ride was new to the park and Hiccup was looking forward to riding it. He knew that Astrid would love it too.

Weeks before arranging this amusement park date, Hiccup had done some researching on his laptop. Though he had been to this park often as a kid, he had never driven out to Raven Pointe, so he had opened the amusement park's official website to search for driving directions. While on the site, Hiccup had found an embedded YouTube video. The video showed a test run of the park's new ride for promotional purposes. Intrigued, Hiccup had watched it. As the video ended, Hiccup promised himself that he would find that ride and ride it with Astrid during their trip.

The ride, a tower taller than even the highest hill of the oldest wooden coaster (the only wooden coaster—which they had just ridden) stood waiting. On the ground, the seats sat, harnesses raised, waiting for the next victi…uh, riders to board.

Noticing, Hiccup picked up his pace. "Come on, Astrid! If we hurry, we'll be able to get on this time!"

"Are you sure that you don't want to just watch it one time?" Astrid wondered, taking Hiccup's hand so that she could keep up with his quickening pace.

Hiccup had already watched it one time, but he wasn't about to tell Astrid that. "Nope! Let's go!"

Handing Astrid the required amount of tickets for the ride, Hiccup supplied himself with enough for him to ride as well and together they boarded, passing the tickets off to the ride attendant on their way to the seats. Hiccup found two open seats side-by-side and he claimed them for himself and Astrid. The seats faced away from the wooden roller coaster, away from the majority of the other rides in the amusement park.

Pulling his harness down, Hiccup fastened it in place with the provided belt buckle. He took a quick glance over at Astrid and saw her doing the same. Hiccup could barely contain his excitement. He could not wait to see Astrid's face when…

"Hiccup?"

The boy snapped from his thoughts as he heard Astrid's voice saying his nickname. "Yeah, Astrid?"

"Do you want a picture?" she asked.

This question confused Hiccup as he had not brought a camera with him and neither had Astrid. Neither could reach their phones with the harnesses clasping their bodies in place and the harnesses would've definitely altered the quality of the picture. As he was mulling this over, Hiccup noticed an amusement park employee with a camera standing outside the ride area. She must've asked Astrid if they would like to have their picture taken.

"Sure. Let's do it," he replied after thinking briefly on the question.

"I'm going to take a 'before' and an 'after' picture. This is the before. How about giving a thumbs-up for me?" The woman with the camera told the couple.

Hiccup and Astrid both threw up a thumbs-up, the traditional hand-sign for "It's all good" and both gave wide smiles for the camera. The woman snapped the picture as the seats began to rise. The ride was starting.

Neither Hiccup nor Astrid spoke. They just waited as the ride pulled them further and further from the ground. As they climbed higher and higher, Hiccup started to guess how close they were to the top of the tower. Having watched the promotional video, he knew exactly what would happen once they hit the top and he tried his hardest to brace himself. Even when Hiccup was confident that they had hit the top, they still continued to climb. How far from the top were they?

"I don't know if this is such a good idea, Hiccup. Why did I ever opt to ride this with you?" Astrid asked him and Hiccup heard her over the sound of the hydraulics that continued to raise them higher.

"Nonsense, Astrid. This'll be great. Just you wait!"

Almost immediately after Hiccup finished his reply, the seats plummeted without warning. Hiccup never even had the opportunity to hear Astrid's scream; his own covered hers. How strange it was that even though he knew what was coming, he still had been unprepared when it actually happened.

As the ride touched back down, the photographer from before took Hiccup's and Astrid's picture again before they could even register what had just happened. The harnesses loosened and, with shaking hands, Hiccup unbuckled the belt and raised the harness.

Touching his feet back down to the ground, Hiccup helped Astrid down from her seat. Together they exited the ride area. Once they had both exited the ride area, Astrid took one look at Hiccup and burst out laughing. Hiccup threw her a questioning look, wondering briefly if she had lost her sanity on that last ride. All Astrid said in return was a gasping "Babe…your hair…" between laughs.

Pulling out his cell phone, Hiccup used the blank screen as a makeshift mirror. He almost laughed too when he saw his reflection. His shaggy brown hair (which he had been telling himself to cut for a while now) was sticking up in various directions. Hiccup ran his fingers through his messy hair in an almost vain attempt to fix it back to its usual state. Astrid continued to laugh at his feeble attempts and he playfully glared at her in return. "Don't laugh! Your hair would look worse than mine does now if you didn't have it braided so…elaborately," he told her, gesturing to the side-braid she had positioned over her shoulder.

"Whose fault's that? You won't let me braid yours!" Astrid replied, still doubled over with laughter.

"Real men don't wear braids, Astrid!" Finally giving up, Hiccup slipped his phone back into his pocket. This was the best he was going to do with his hair. Hopefully it would settle back down to its normal position as the day continued. "So…ready for lunch?"

* * *

**The ride that this story is based on is so much fun! Seriously! If you want to know more about the YouTube video (it exists, apparently!), let me know and I'll find it and tell you how to find it. Oh, that's right. YouTube is referenced in this story. I don't own that…and I wouldn't want to. I don't like YouTube anymore.**

**On my profile, under the story information section, I have posted the chronology for these one-shots. I have omitted titles that have not yet been published. The titles will appear as the stories are posted.**

**I hope that you enjoyed this one-shot and the next one should be posted soon!**

**Posted: August 17, 2014**


End file.
